Sports Update » longhornshttp://blog.chron.com/sportsupdate
Blogging special sports events and storiesSun, 02 Aug 2015 23:10:48 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.2.2UT football: Thompson, Diggs picked on final day of NFL drafthttp://blog.chron.com/sportsupdate/2015/05/ut-football-thompson-diggs-picked-on-final-day-of-nfl-draft/
http://blog.chron.com/sportsupdate/2015/05/ut-football-thompson-diggs-picked-on-final-day-of-nfl-draft/#commentsSat, 02 May 2015 21:32:53 +0000http://blog.mysanantonio.com/longhorns/?p=2458AUSTIN — The program that calls itself “DBU” sent two more members to the NFL on Saturday.

Texas defensive backs Mykkele Thompson and Quandre Diggs were both picked on the final day of the NFL draft, joining nine other former members of the Longhorns’ secondary who were on NFL rosters last season.

Thompson, a safety from San Antonio Stevens, was picked by the New York Giants in the fifth round with the 144th overall selection. He will become a member of a defense that already includes former UT cornerback Aaron Ross.

Diggs, a cornerback from Angleton, was picked by the Detroit Lions in the sixth round with the 200th overall selection.

Other former UT defensive backs in the NFL include Seattle’s Earl Thomas, New Orleans’ Kenny Vaccaro and Buffalo’s Aaron Williams.

Earlier this week, Longhorns defensive tackle Malcom Brown was picked by New England in the first round and linebacker Jordan Hicks was picked by Philadelphia in the third round.

Texas head coach Charlie Strong, left, and his counterpart at Texas A&M, Kevin Sumlin, went head to head Wednesday on National Signing Day in the eyes of many Lone Star State football fans.

Wednesday’s National Signing Day provided former conference rivals Texas and Texas A&M a rare opportunity for direct competition, and if nothing else allowed the two fan bases to again fight over bragging rights of some sort, even if they do revolve around the whims of teenagers.

Ultimately, what most will point to will be the class rankings by the major recruiting services and websites, and by all accounts UT head coach Charlie Strong is winning this battle with his A&M counterpart, Kevin Sumlin.

Of the four major recruiting websites, all but rivals.com had the Longhorns’ class ranked higher than the Aggies’ haul as of 3:30 p.m., with UT checking in at 12 and A&M at 10. ESPN, on the other hand, had UT at 7th overall and A&M 10th; scout.com followed suit with the two teams 8th and 10th, respectively; and 247sports.com likewise had the Longhorns higher, 11th compared to the Aggies at 12th.

The two big prizes of of A&M’s class — Murray and fellow five-star recruit Daylon Mack, a defensive tackle from Gladewater High School — were expected to be Aggies all along, even if the latter de-committed in the weeks leading up to his announcement.

“We’ve added athleticism and depth,” Sumlin said. “What we’ve learned is this is not just a talent league, but a talent and depth league.”

And while Murray’s officially an Aggie as of now, that could change come June when he’s expected to be a first-round selection in Major League Baseball’s draft.

“When June comes that’ll be another life-changing decision I’ll need to make,” Murray, a standout second baseman, told reporters after signing his A&M paperwork.

The Longhorns, meanwhile, managed to woo a pair of prospects who were considered locks to sign on with Pac-12 schools, adding Aledo wide receiver Ryan Newsome (who’d been committed to UCLA) and Beaumont Central safety P.J. Locke (who’d been committed to Oregon) to an already stacked class.

“We don’t mind going out of state to battle,” said Strong, who signed a total of nine out-of-state recruits in the 2015 class. “That’s what it’s all about. We weren’t going to back down.”

Marc Bindel, who coached Barrett at Wichita Falls Rider, didn’t hide his displeasure with Brown and the Longhorns over their recruiting – or lack thereof – when it came to Barrett.

“I was, at the time, a big Texas fan,” Bindel said. “I wasn’t really happy with the way (Barrett) got treated. I felt like they mislead (sic) him a little bit and they chose to go Tyrone Swoopes and not offer J.T. I don’t know if J.T. would have gone there had he not gotten offered, but Texas, i don’t feel like handled the situation the right way.

“They don’t have a quarterback and Ohio State has three.”

]]>http://blog.chron.com/sportsupdate/2015/01/mack-brown-ripped-for-recruiting-methods/feed/0Attorneys for Oklahoma State, UT’s Wickline spar in courthttp://blog.chron.com/sportsupdate/2014/12/attorneys-for-oklahoma-state-uts-wickline-spar-in-court/
http://blog.chron.com/sportsupdate/2014/12/attorneys-for-oklahoma-state-uts-wickline-spar-in-court/#commentsThu, 18 Dec 2014 23:17:39 +0000http://blog.mysanantonio.com/longhorns/?p=2365AUSTIN — In Travis County district court on Thursday, articles from newspaper sports sections were submitted as evidence. Attorneys questioned the integrity of rival athletic departments, spoke to a judge about football play-calling duties, and there even was a reference to how an assistant coach had “performed miracles” with an offensive line.

In the end, nothing was decided in the ongoing legal battle between Texas offensive coordinator Joe Wickline and his former employer, Oklahoma State. But Thursday’s hearing did provide a preview of what to expect if one of the most fascinating court cases in college football ever goes to trial.

District judge Amy Clark Meachum said she will wait until January to rule on whether Wickline’s lawsuit against OSU and its athletic director, Mike Holder, should be dismissed. Earlier on Thursday, a judge in Oklahoma denied Wickline’s request to have OSU’s suit against him thrown out.

Both lawsuits stem from OSU’s claim that Wickline — who coached the Cowboys’ offensive line from 2005-’13 — owes his former school $593,487, which was the buyout specified in his contract. His deal at OSU called for that buyout to be waived if he left for a job as offensive coordinator “with play-calling duties.”

University of Texas offensive coordinator/offensive line coach Joe Wickline is at the center of a lawsuit stemming from his decision to leave Oklahoma State for the Longhorns. (Sue Ogrocki / Associated Press)

Wickline’s official title at UT is offensive coordinator, and head coach Charlie Strong said he is involved in play-calling, although assistant head coach for offense Shawn Watson has the final say.

Thursday’s hearing wasn’t about those details, however. OSU attorney Sean Breen argued that a forum selection clause in Wickline’s OSU contract meant Wickline shouldn’t be allowed to file a related suit outside of Payne County, Oklahoma. David Beck, Wickline’s attorney, said the suit should be allowed because it claims OSU and Holder are interfering with Wickline’s UT contract.

In making his motion to the judge, Breen fired a shot at UT for allowing the legal fight to happen in the first place.

Beck countered by saying OSU crossed the line by sending repeated letters to Wickline, and by publicly accusing UT and Wickline of being dishonest about his job description.

“At some point, we’re going to have to fight over what (OSU has) done and how they did it,” Beck said.

Will that fight include testimony from coaches or players about who’s calling plays during UT football games? Both Beck and Breen said that’s a possibility. But as Beck pointed out, Wickline doesn’t need to prove he’s UT’s sole play-caller.

“(The OSU contract) doesn’t say he has to call all the plays,” Beck said. “My sense is that play-calling is a team effort.”

One fact not in dispute is that Wickline is valued as an assistant coach. In explaining to Meachum why such a fuss is being made over a man who coaches the offensive line, Breen said, “Some believe he performed miracles here at UT this fall.”

After the hearing, Breen reiterated that he believes UT — which is not named in either suit — should pay the buyout.

“If an institution wants to hire a really good coach like Joe Wickline, they’ll pay for it,” Breen said. “It’s befuddling that the University of Texas, with all its resources, wouldn’t just do that.”

UT guard Martez Walker

AUSTIN – Sophomore guard Martez Walker, who was suspended indefinitely after his arrest on a misdemeanor assault charge last month, has withdrawn from the university, the school confirmed Thursday.

Walker, who averaged 4.7 points and 2.3 rebounds per game as a freshman last season, was charged with assault with injury/dating violence on Sept. 12 and was suspended from all team activities. According to an arrest affidavit, he’s accused of hitting his girlfriend, who was sent to the hospital with “possible broken ribs.”

Walker was banned from UT’s residence halls, and was arrested for criminal trespass less than a week later after allegedly returning to the dormitory where the first incident took place.

]]>http://blog.chron.com/sportsupdate/2014/10/suspended-basketball-player-martez-walker-withdraws-from-texas/feed/0Vince Young finds himself at the center of another lawsuithttp://blog.chron.com/sportsupdate/2014/09/vince-young-finds-himself-at-the-center-of-another-lawsuit/
http://blog.chron.com/sportsupdate/2014/09/vince-young-finds-himself-at-the-center-of-another-lawsuit/#commentsMon, 15 Sep 2014 22:50:22 +0000http://blog.chron.com/sportsupdate/?p=43390

Vince Young's career

Former NFL and University of Texas quarterback Vince Young and his former business manager, Ron Peoples, have been sued in Harris County by a company trying to collect payment on a $700,000 loan that Young obtained from a Dallas man in April 2011, according to court records.

The lawsuit, filed in late August by Triton RMS, a Katy company that acquired the debt last year, alleges that the unpaid loan plus principal and an origination fee now totals $1.163 million.

The case was assigned to 333rd state District Judge Joseph “Tad” Halbach.

The latest lawsuit against Young, who starred at Madison High School before leading the Longhorns to the 2005 national championship and who from 2006 through 2011 played for the Titans and Eagles, comes less than a year after Young filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection while in the midst of a legal battle involving a New York company that granted a $1.8 million loan in Young’s name during the 2011 NFL lockout.

That case was settled in early 2014, and Young quickly withdrew his Chapter 11 petition. A lawsuit that Young filed against Peoples also was settled earlier this year.

The latest lawsuit, filed by Houston attorney Vy-Vivian Nguyen, alleges that Young and Peoples in April 2011 entered into a $700,000 loan agreement with David Zehr of Dallas at 15 percent interest with a $21,000 loan origination fee to be paid on or before Sept. 30, 2011.

“Neither Vince Young nor Ron Peoples have made any efforts to repay the aforementioned note,” the lawsuit alleges.

The address given for Zehr in court papers matches that of a Dallas physician of the same name. He did not immediately return a message for comment. Court documents indicate that the loan was assigned to a third party, ILS Acquisition of Houston, which assigned it to Triton RMS.

Nguyen, the attorney for Triton RMS, had no comment on the case Monday.

Young, in an interview with TMZ Sports, blamed the lawsuit on Peoples, who signed the promissory note as Young’s “attorney-in-fact.”

Houston attorney David Chaumette, who represented Peoples in another lawsuit involving Young, said he was aware of the Zehr note and that reference to the loan was made in documents filed in other Young-related lawsuits.

“We have been negotiating with them about this note for some time,” Chaumette said. “We thought negotiations were happening and that we were getting closer to a resolution. I fully expect this to be resolved quickly without too much judicial action.”

Young was represented during the bankruptcy case by Houston attorney Brian Kilmer, who did not return a telephone call seeking comment.

Young recently began working for the University of Texas in the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement.

]]>http://blog.chron.com/sportsupdate/2014/09/vince-young-finds-himself-at-the-center-of-another-lawsuit/feed/0UT football: Defensive backs breakdownhttp://blog.chron.com/sportsupdate/2013/08/ut-football-defensive-backs-breakdown/
http://blog.chron.com/sportsupdate/2013/08/ut-football-defensive-backs-breakdown/#commentsThu, 01 Aug 2013 16:15:34 +0000http://blog.chron.com/sportsupdate/?p=29924AUSTIN – When safety Kenny Vaccaro was drafted last spring by the New Orleans Saints, he joined a group of 11 other former Texas defensive backs currently active in the NFL. No other college program boasts a bigger alumni chapter in professional secondaries.

And over the past 15 years, the Longhorns’ defensive backfield has delivered a level of production worthy of its “DBU” title. Even in the nation’s best passing conference, UT routinely made life difficult for opposing quarterbacks and receivers, and routinely racked up Thorpe awards and All-America honors in the process.

But last year, things began to slip. UT finished the season ranked third in the Big 12 in pass defense — a stat based on total yardage — but that might have been attributable to the fact that most opponents found it even easier to run on the Longhorns. In defensive pass efficiency, UT ranked seventh in the conference, and only two Big 12 teams gave up more than the Longhorns’ average of 7.9 yards per pass attempt.

Will 2013 be a bounce-back year for DBU? Here’s the breakdown:

Carrington Byndom entered last season being hailed as the Longhorns’ next elite cornerback, but he didn’t approach the the level of those expectations. Perhaps feeling some pressure to overcompensate for the struggles of the front seven, Byndom suffered from lapses in coverage, and like many of his teammates, missed tackles. But the senior still has the talent and the smarts to be an all-conference performer, and he’ll once again be tasked with chasing the Big 12’s top wide receivers.

The Longhorns’ other starting cornerback, junior Quandre Diggs, might be asked to do even more. Traditionally, secondary coach Duane Akina has placed his toughest and most versatile players in the nickel back role, and Diggs is a candidate to play there this fall. Diggs, the younger brother of former UT standout Quentin Jammer, is the most vocal of UT’s defensive backs, and should emerge as the leader of the unit in Vaccaro’s absence.

Of course, it would be easier to allow Diggs to play the nickel if the Longhorns can find another reliable cornerback. The best candidate looks like Sheroid Evans, a junior who gave up competing on UT’s track team last spring and apparently reaped the rewards of his new football focus. Evans made such an impression during spring practice that talented sophomore Duke Thomas, another cornerback possibility, was able to spend some time working at wide receiver. UT coach Mack Brown says it remains unclear how Thomas will be utilized, but would classify him as a defensive player who will play some offense.

At safety, the Longhorns are counting on a big rebound from senior Adrian Phillips, whose ghastly struggles last September and October might have been due in part to lingering effects of a shoulder injury. He played much better toward the end of the season, and UT needs that to continue. The other safety spot should be occupied by one of two juniors — Mykkele Thompson and Josh Turner — who also were slow to adapt to increased roles last season.

Among the other contenders for playing time — a list that includes junior Leroy Scott, sophomore Kevin Vaccaro and freshmen Antwaun Davis and Eric Huhn — the most promising might be redshirt freshman Adrian Colbert, whose speed and knack for play-making made him one of the stars of UT’s spring game.

Texas quarterback David Ash, calling out instructions against Kansas, will stay as the Longhorns starter. (AP Photo/Reed Hoffmann)

AUSTIN — Case McCoy’s game-winning touchdown drive against Kansas wasn’t enough to earn him a job as a starter.

Texas coach Mack Brown announced Monday that David Ash remains the Longhorns’ first-string quarterback heading into this week’s game at Texas Tech.

Ash was outstanding for most of this season’s first seven games, and is still ranked 26th nationally in passing efficiency. But against the Jayhawks, he completed just 8 of f16 passes for 63 yards with two interceptions.

McCoy, who split time with Ash last year, came off the bench for the final two drives, both of which ended in touchdowns. His 1-yard scoring pass to D.J. Grant lifted the Longhorns to a 21-17 victory over the Jayhawks, the worst team in the Big 12.

Monday, McCoy declined to say if he was disappointed about UT’s decision to start Ash, saying, “I always prepare to be the starter.”

“I know if I ever get thrown into the fire again, I’ll be prepared,” McCoy said.

]]>http://blog.chron.com/sportsupdate/2012/10/ut-football-ash-to-start-against-texas-tech/feed/0Longhorns could use more swagger at quarterbackhttp://blog.chron.com/sportsupdate/2012/08/longhorns-could-use-more-swagger-at-quarterback/
http://blog.chron.com/sportsupdate/2012/08/longhorns-could-use-more-swagger-at-quarterback/#commentsTue, 07 Aug 2012 04:33:28 +0000http://blog.chron.com/randyharvey/?p=129There’s a fine line between humility and a lack of confidence. There’s also a difference in how some players answer questions from the media and how they play on the field. Coaches like Texas’ Mack Brown don’t necessarily mind if their players let actions speak for themselves.

Having said that, University of Texas fans should have at least paused when they read the comments from quarterback David Ash in Monday’s Chronicle article by correspondent Mike Finger.

“What is leadership?” Ash asked in response to a question, sounding like a philosophy teacher who asks his students to answer, “What is truth?”

Maybe Ash is correct if you’re discussing a poem or art or whether Taylor Swift is country or pop. But on the football field, I’d rather believe that quarterbacks deal in more concrete concepts such as, “Follow me and we’ll kick their butts.” Maybe that’s not exactly how Vince Young or Colt McCoy or earlier versions in Austin like Bobby Layne or Duke Carlisle or James Street would have articulated it, but you have to think that’s what their teammates were hearing in the huddle.

Case McCoy sounded less abstract in his comments but seemed OK if he’s not THE guy when it comes to leading the team.

“(Quarterback) isn’t going to be the position that’s going to define this whole team,” he said.

True. But I’m sure Longhorns fans would like it if the quarterback at least thought he was going to be the one to define it.

AUSTIN — Texas baseball assistant Tommy Harmon, the longest-tenured coach on any of the Longhorns’ major sports teams, has been dismissed by UT after 23 seasons.

The school announced Wednesday it will not renew the annual contract of Harmon, 63, who served under both Cliff Gustafson and current coach Augie Garrido. With Harmon on the staff, the Longhorns made the College World Series 10 times, winning it twice.

In a statement released by UT, Garrido said of letting Harmon go, “This has been the most difficult decision I have ever had to make.”

The change after the Longhorns missed the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1998. Harmon, who played at UT from 1968-’70, had been a Longhorns assistant since 1989 and associate head coach since 2004.

“I bleed orange and I wish the best for the student-athletes on the team,” Harmon said in UT’s statement.